BEIRUT — It streaks across the sky and then — when it’s almost too late to take cover — lets off a guttural sound like a moped blitzing by. Moments later comes the punch-boom of a deadly explosion.
Small, propeller-driven drones were first used last month by Russia in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. But this week they have taken to the forefront, with dozens deployed daily to dive-bomb Kyiv, Dnipro and Mykolaiv, targeting Ukraine’s power infrastructure and causing blackouts across the country. At least eight people have been killed in the strikes, Ukrainian authorities say.
Though their markings are in Russian and Moscow refers to them as the Geran-2, Pentagon officials, Ukrainians and observers contend the weapons are Iranian-made Shahed-136s, nimble, so-called kamikaze drones (because they destroy themselves in the attack) that can travel thousands of miles before slamming into a target.
